Product Description

Quiddler, the short word, game - is a breakthrough
in word games. Because short words, like 'at', 'is',
'of', 'ax','ow' and 'zoo' can lead to winning, readers of
all ages can play and win. There are bonuses for
both short and long words. You simply combine all
the cards in your hand into words. The words don't
have to be related, and you don't play off other
player's words. In the first round players get three
cards, in the second round four cards, on up to 10
cards in the last round. Just words. Just fun.

Product Reviews

I was just amazed by this game. I'm an adult with dyslexia and have
little confidence in my spelling. I learned to hate scrabble as a child
because of the frustration of knowing a great word and not be able to
spell it. I'm also not fond of the dictionary as it not easy to look up a
word you can't spell.

Then came Quiddler. I just got the game and my family and I ended up
playing many games of Quiddler. I enjoyed the game even though I
was playing against my Mom who has a rich vocabulary and my brother
who is great speller. Didn't win but held my ground. Even better my
confidence with working with words was raised. (I came up with Quran
on my own) and I made friends with the dictionary. It was very useful
to use check on my spelling.

We played a non competitive game in which we help each other out. The
advantage of the game is you can play it as hardball as you want. The
best plus of the game is that is can help raise the confidence of
someone who is not comfortable with spelling. I began to see the
spelling patterns and thinking about what to do next time.

The game is also design so that a player doesn't fall too far behind. You
can't score below zero. Players also get a last turn when someone goes
out. Often if a player had no points they pick up a card and things
would fall into place and they were able to score.

I got this game to use in my library program. I'm going have to buy
another set for the library as I'm keeping this one myself. Though I will
bring it to the library for game day.

My family and I love this game, especially when we organize game
evenings - EVERYBODY loves QUIDDLER and asks for it to play. One can
make short words and still win. It is very entertaining and educates at
the same time. Our children have learned how to use a dictionary and
they challenge each other to get the Bonusses. We never travel
without Quiddler and it does not take long to play a round. It is the
ideal gift for friends and word game lovers.

My family and I love this game, especially as we often organize game
evenings - EVERYBODY loves QUIDDLER and asks for it to play. One can
make short words and still win; or make the most words or the longest
word and receive bonus points. It is extremely entertaining and
educates at the same time. We never travel without our Quiddler and it
also is the perfect gift for many occasions.

My coworkers and I play this during our lunch break. We like it because it moves fast and satisfies our 'word game' preference. It's a great alternative to scrabble because the play is quicker! However, we altered the rules as follows for a more challenging game: First round is 8 cards (not 3). We increase cards by 2 per round up to 14. Then we decrease cards by 2 per round down to 8. This makes the game a bit more interesting for us.

We've also considered adding a minimum word length required to 'go out'. There is a lot of flexibility to this game for adding your own rules depending on the group who is playing.

Overall this is a great word game to own as it appeals to word-smiths and barely-know-english types alike.

I happened on this game 'unopened' at a school tag sale and WHAT A FIND!! Everyone, kids and adults alike, who has played this since, LOVES IT! We used to love Boggle (ok, we still do) but this is much more social and easier to play with kids (mine are 7 & 9 and the 9 yr old boy especially loves it--he has beat adults and he is no writing whiz!!) The 7 yr old likes a little more help so we don't play with so many cards in her case or we play in teams. Great for packing on trips or to a restaurant while you wait. I am buying more sets as gifts--especially for teachers during indoor recess. You've got to try it!

To date, every single person to whom I've introduced this game has immediately gone out to buy her own deck. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what I did after my cousin brought this game to our last family gathering!

Quiddler can easily be tweaked to accomodate children, so it's good for families. My bf and I like to play games together and we bemoan the dearth of choices for 2 players. This game plays equally exceptionally with 2 or more players. Also, a few of my friends also speak highly of the rules for solitaire.

It's quick to teach, highly portable, and plays much faster than Scrabble. If you're in a particular hurry, shorten playtime by limiting the number of hands played.

I love this game. It's one of the few word games that ever actually improved my vocabulary and was still fun to play. And, as fun as it is to play with others, it's also got solitaire rules which makes it good even when you're alone. there aren't many good solitaire games. Anyway, you definitely need a dictionary with this game, so if you're not into scrambling to look things up, you may be put off by it, but otherwise, it's really a good time.

I married into a family that really enjoys playing word games. To be a good sport, I've tried to play along always hoping we get to a game I actually like.

When someone pulled Quiddler out, I knew I would be spending the next couple hours enjoying the conversation, but hating the game. I WAS WRONG.

I found the game very entertaining--entertaining enough to buy a copy for myself. Now I'm the one suggesting we play a word game. Don't get me wrong, I would always prefer a good strategy game, but when that's not an option, I never hesitate to play Quiddler.

Interestingly, my dyslexic 11 year old consistently beats his highly educated parents. If he disagrees with a word we play, he looks it up in the dictionary! This is a fun, educational game that tricks kids into increasing their vocabulary. Additionally, adding up scores provides a math component to the game. We take this game when we go out to eat to play while waiting for our food. All in all, lots of fun for the whole family.

by
Family Reunion Gamer

Love Quiddler!

March 02, 2009

This is one that will satisfy both young and old players. We recently had a large
family gathering and played this with 10 people. Some had partners because it is a
game for up to 8 players. We all enjoyed it and played sort of cooperatively;
helping each other out with the words. The game was easily and quickly learned by
everyone. This is a great game for those with little experience in playing group
games. It is a cross between gin rummy and scrabble and a great starter game that
helps you brush up on your spelling.

This word game is easier then scrabble more fun for the less spelling oriented. Since there are bonus points for both the longest word and the most words, it is possible to rack up the points with a bunch of two letter words, or some monstrous word. Additionally there is no advantage to going out first in a round. In fact, going last in many cases is the most beneficial, as you decide whether to go for the longest or most words. This is the best word game I have seen.

Quiddler is a rummy-style card game, except instead of making sets or runs you are trying to collect sets of cards that form words.

On each player's turn, he draws a card and discards a card, and if he can do so, he may play all his other cards to form one or more words. All cards (besides the discard) must be used, and at least two cards must be used to form each word. (Note that I say two cards, rather than two letters; a few special cards have combinations of two letters, like ER or TH or QU.) Once one player plays his hand, each other player gets one more turn in which to make the best set of words he can (which may not use all the cards). Then, each player scores points for all the cards used to form words (up to about 15 points for the lone Q card; about 1 to 4 points for common letters). Unused cards rate a small penalty. Then there are bonuses for most words and longest word, but each is only awarded if only a single player has achieved the feat. With 5 or 6 players, you'll probably never see the bonus for Most Words awarded until the round with 6 cards, though the two-letter cards make it possible to get the Longest Word bonus even in the first round, sometimes. (I'd like to see somebody play O-TH-ER in the first round, some time.)

As the summary states, in the first round each player gets 3 cards, in the next round 4 cards, and so forth. The main problem I see with the game is that it's too easy for a player to make words with all his cards on his first turn, especially in the early rounds, and there is too little incentive for him to not do so -- the scoring for most/longest words and the increased points for using tougher letters seem to more than be counterbalanced by the ability to restrict the opponents' opportunities to achieve the same scoring, or to even play all their cards.

Sometimes the very first player in a round will do this, and then everybody gets just one turn to try to make words. (For instance, in the first round, a player just needs to make one three-letter word with three of the four cards he has in hand after drawing a card. Four cards provide at least one vowel and two consonants quite often; in a group of 5 or 6 players, always somebody will be able to do this.) However, the players I play Quiddler with are all word-game experts, and a less advanced group might find this not to be a problem.

The later rounds are interesting, though, and maybe enough so that we might just skip the early rounds and start with, say, 6 cards.

In all honesty, if Scrabble is your idea of a
good time, this game is great for you. But it
takes some of the skill out of Scrabble and
leaves a lot more up to luck. If you don't manage to
draw the right cards, oh well tough luck, you
lose.

Another problem is that the rules allow you to
search a dictionary when it's not your turn.
Every time I've played this we have people
scrounging through dictionaries the whole
time. Instead of winning on the player's
knowledge of words, they win because they
found the right page in the dictionary.

This game is only for real word game lovers.
As you can tell by this review, I do not fall in
that category.

You would think the people running around Mensa choosing the best games would pick games that actually required a little more thought than a bad remake of rummy (like the Princes of Florence or Totaler Krieg would be excellent choices). The big print out of F U N on the front of this game is definitely deceiving. Basically cards a worth a certain amount of points and you have to make tricks out of them. You lose points for every card you don't use minus one (because you discard a card at the end of your turn). There are bonuses for the person with the largest trick and the most tricks every round. This game is practically all luck of the draw. If you consider a large vocabulary a 'skill' than I guess this game is only 50 percent luck. Being a member of Mensa myself for the past 3 years, the only game I thought worthy of the title Mensa Best Mind Games was Zertz in 2000. That game truly requires planning and skill. Basically, the only think saving this game from 1 start is the fact that my father likes playing it, why? I have no idea.

Robin King
(Games Magazine)

December 31, 1999

Timing your exit is important in this deceptively simple word rummy variant from the talented makers of Set. Each player is dealt an increasing number of the whimsically designed (and numbered) cards each round, up to a maximum of 10 cards in round eight. Besides scoring points for words, players can earn bonuses for making the longest word or the most words. It's easy to go out, but don't be too hasty: Others get one last chance to do the same and may earn bonuses. In later rounds, when more cards come into play, there can be surprising fluctuations on the scoresheet. This game is guaranteed to sharpen your word skills, and may even train you to be an anagram whiz!

Other Resources for Quiddler:

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